This is the accompanying PowerPoint for a 25-minute lecture I give to pre-service teachers introducing them to the idea of using technology for content exploration.
2. Unit 2 – Technology for Teaching and Learning How do I decide what technology to use and when (SNOWY)? Content Exploration Tools Production Tools Communication Tools Data Collection and Analysis Tools Productivity Tools
3. What are Content Exploration Tools use for? Review knowledge Apply knowledge Explore new knowledge
4. Types of Content Exploration Tools Reference Least Complex Drill-and-Practice Tutorials Educational Games Simulations Open-Ended Tools Integrated Learning Systems Most Complex
5. Reference Purpose: Providing information for students. Format: Text, images, animation. No significant interaction. Examples: Lo-Tech/No-Tech Reference Books, Textbooks Instructional TV/Video (Reading Rainbow, National Geo.) Instruction Manuals Hi-Tech Online Reference materials Online Video Tutorials
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7. Types of Content Exploration Tools Reference (Provide Info) Least Complex Drill-and-Practice Tutorials Educational Games Simulations Open-Ended Tools Integrated Learning Systems Most Complex
8. Drill-and-Practice Purpose: Reinforce concepts. Supplemental practice and feedback. Format: Presents items for students to answer. Flash-card. Quiz questions and feedback. Examples: Multiplication table Math drill games (click on units overview) Typing programs Flash-card
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11. Types of Content Exploration Tools Reference (Provide Info) Least Complex Drill-and-Practice (Reinforce, Feedback) Tutorials Educational Games Simulations Open-Ended Tools Integrated Learning Systems Most Complex
12. Tutorials (Reference +Drill) Purpose: Typically, new material. Instruction with practice and review. Entire instructional sequence. Format: Content is presented, then evaluate whether content is learned (includes drill-and-practice). Linear or hypermedia. Examples: Rosetta Stone – Foreign Language Procedure Health Education Congress for Kids
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14. Types of Content Exploration Tools Reference (Provide Info) Least Complex Drill-and-Practice (Reinforce, Feedback) Tutorials (Reference+Drill) Educational Games Simulations Open-Ended Tools Integrated Learning Systems Most Complex
15. Educational Games Purpose: Present and review content. Format: Content is packaged in a sequence of game rules. Examples: Oregon Trail Quest Atlantis Reader Rabbit
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19. Types of Content Exploration Tools Reference Least Complex Drill-and-Practice Tutorials Educational Games Simulations Open-Ended Tools Integrated Learning Systems Most Complex
20. Simulations/Microworlds Purpose: Puts user in a difficult (or impossible) to create situation. Users see impact of actions. Format: Open-ended environments, discovery learning, learner controls. Laboratory, urban, microworlds, simulation builders. Models physical phenomena and hypothetical situations. Examples: Orbits Frog Dissection Molecules in Motion
21. Types of Content Exploration Tools Reference Least Complex Drill-and-Practice Tutorials Educational Games Simulations Open-Ended Tools Integrated Learning Systems Most Complex
22. Open-Ended Tools Purpose: Provide opportunities to interact with content. Tools to help students solve problems. Format: Tool can be manipulated to accommodate various content areas. Not necessarily a “goal” Lecture Worksheet #4: We looked at Google Groups – an open-ended tool not specifically created for education – in class a few weeks ago and debated its usefulness to teachers. What is another open-ended technological tool that you might be able to use as teacher even if it wasn’t specifically designed for education? How might it be useful?
23. Open Ended Tools Examples: GPS Geometer Sketchpad (next slide) Google Earth (Demo) Google Sketchup
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25. Types of Content Exploration Tools Reference Least Complex Drill-and-Practice Tutorials Educational Games Simulations Open-Ended Tools Integrated LearningMost Complex Systems
26. Integrated Learning Systems Purpose: Documents student progress on specific learning objectives. Academic and administrative purposes. Format: Presents content, provides tests, and documents student progress by recording these results.
VisualizeStudents using the visualization tool were able to generate better mental images of chemicals that aided their understanding.
Ask for some examples they know of – no-tech, lo-tech, hi-tech
Ask- quick review. What are reference tools?
Most reference tools are familiar from their lo-tech sibblings, but the tech options usually offer some upgrades
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/Linked pictureThis won’t blow you away either, but it’s just a reference tool
Ask- what are they? Example?
Benefits:Gives immediate private feedbackMotivates students to practiceSaves teacher time correcting student work.Whereas tutorials may present new material, drill-and-practice software is designed to reinforce previously presented content. Drill-and-practice software is used to qURstion learners on key content points, giving them the opportunity to practice content by responding to specific questions. This type of softwure provides instant feedback as to the correctness of a response. Some drill-and-practice software packages track correct answers and move the level of questioning to more complex content as the students' responses indicate increased mastery. Drill-and-practice software, like tutorials, ranges from fairly simple text-based, flash-card-type software to complex and sophisticated multimedia software. Drill-and-practice software allows the student to control the pace of the interaction, but users typically cannot alter the path of the review until they have mastered each level. Unlike answering review questions or taking a pop quiz for content practice, using drill-and-practice software provides instant feedback, and it may respond with additional drills targeting diagnosed weaknesses. Critics of this type of software refer to it as "drill-and-kill" software, expressing the notion that it can be a boring and passive learning experience. Indeed, some drill-and-practice software lacks quality and interest.
ClickN' Read Beginning Reading Program(ClickN' Kids)ClickN' Kids' newest release, designed as an intervention to support students without a solid foundation for reading, is the epitome of a captivating and systematic beginning reading program. ClickN' Kid, a goofy and affable hound, ushers users through a learning journey of 100 drill-and-practice lessons set in colorful, futuristic classroom locales. Each lesson houses four amusing learning environments that progressively teach alphabetic understanding, phonemic awareness, decoding, and word recognition.In the first setting, the Letter Sound Chamber, ClickN' Kid uses his trusty mobile TV screen to introduce a new instructional element, such as letter sounds like "d" or "m," or the "silent e" rule. Learners then practice, matching a spoken sound to its corresponding letter, then typing that letter on the keyboard. In the next setting, the Listening Cube, kids learn how these new sounds meld into word blends.With a zoom, ClickN' Kid zips on his jet-powered podium from the Listening Cube to the Reading Room, where the new words are contextualized into a short passage. To add to the interest, each little passage builds upon an ongoing story from earlier lessons. ClickN' Read closes each lesson with a visit to the Speed Chamber, where learners whisk through a timed letter and word recognition review.ClickN' Read's graphics and quick animated segments are vibrant, but without unnecessary bells and whistles. The program's uncomplicated interface falls to the advantage of less experienced computer users or learners who are easily distracted from the task at hand — focus stays on the lessons.
What are they?
BENEFITS:Same as drill-and-practice (immediate private feedback / time saving)Offers instruction that can stand on its ownhttp://www.superkids.com/ROSETTA STONETutorial software presents new material, usually in a carefully orchestrated instructional sequence with frequent opportunities for practice and review. These software packages are often self-contained lessons designed and planned according to the principles of instructional design. Tutorial software programs can either be linear or use a hypermedia approach. Linear tutorials take the learner step-by-step through each phase of the instructional process for each objective. Tutorials give the student control of the pace and, in the case of hypermedia tutorials, the path of instruction. Tutorials are limited by their ability to respond to students' questions or concerns outside their programming. Even the bestdesigned tutorial software may not be able to respond to the divergent thinking of many learners. For many users, tutorials are viewed as limiting and potentially boring because of their rigidity in the presentation of topics. Still. a well-written tutorial that is programmed with multimedia components in the presentation of materials can hR very useful for support or review of material or even as an additional strategy in the communication of content.
Health Information about The Human BodyHealth for Kids Series, Vol. 1 - Explore your BodyWould you let four people and a chicken explore the insides of your body ? This is the question that Lenny has to ask himself in Volume 1, Explore Your Body, a giant animated adventure of tiny proportions! Follow the adventures Doc, Sari, Emma, Hu and the Chicken as they plunge into the perilous pit of Lenny's insides! Avoid a dangerous uvula, experience a cough from the inside, play with a voicebox and lose yourself in the lungs. Your innards never looked so great. Explore your Body, is the first volume in the Health for Kids Series. This interactive health software aimed at the ages of 7-10, provides a fun but informative introduction to the human body, how parts of the body function, and how the human body works to stay healthy. Set as an animated tour, learners will literally get an inside view of the human body. Authored by Pediatric and Adolescent Health Expert, Dr. Russell Viner, this Series makes an excellent resource for home study. Each volume contains kids health activities that include health games and quizzes to test the health information learned as you go through each of the nine animated adventures.Click here to view a complete Content List of Volume 1 - Explore Your Body from the Health for Kids Series. Health Information to Explore:The Adventure BeginsThe Tongue of TerrorThe Epiglottis of EvilThe Larynx of LennyThe Air-Raiding AirwaysThe Mouth of MayhemThe Throat of ThunderThe Voicebox of VirtueThe Airways of Anguish
Among the oldest forms of computer-based educational games are quiz games,where quizzes arc embedded in a quiz show context. For example, Games2Train(http://www.games2train.com/games) produces a game maker called Pick-it! forteachers to construct quiz games (sec Figure 3.7). The game maker resembles the televisionquiz show Jeopardy, allowing game player.; to select topics and values and playagainst others. The degree of meaningfulness of the learning from these gamesdepends on the nature of the responses that are required. More often than not, quizgames require only memorization performance. While memorization of domain contentmay be important, these games do not readily engage shIdents in deeper-level,meaningful learning activities (e.g., application and synthesis).More complex games, such as the different versions of Sid Meier's Civilization(http://simcity.ea.com/),engagestudentsincomplexproblemsolving while tryingto manage their civilization. Students can select different civilizations to explore,from Swncrians to the mystical Mayans. In the game, students can map the worldusing satelUte images. They can form annies and attack other civilizations or forgealliances with them. They can choose the form of government they wish to imposeon their civilization (e.g., fascism, feudalism, tribal council, or imperialism). Theycan also use a weU-developed trade system to manage resources, trade routes, and
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Gazillionaire is designed to teach students business, math and economics. It's being used in hundreds of classrooms all across the country, including social studies, economics, business and math courses. Gazillionaire is a business simulation where the player runs a trading company in outer space. In Gazillionaire, the player must make decisions about supply, demand, profit margins, overhead, account balances etc. Because of Gazillionaire's built-in, "award-winning" tutorial with adjustable complexity levels, it appeals to a broad age group and has been used in a wide variety of courses.
BENEFITS:Compress time or slows down processesGets students involvedMakes experimentation safeMakes the impossible possibleSaves money and other resourcesAllows repetition with variationsAllows observation of complex processesMultiple simulations: http://www.design-simulation.com/IP/simulationlibrary/flash-simulations.phpFlight Simulator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzqpl1THYbs&feature=relatedIt's amazing how really simple, yet amazingly effective this can be. There are so many computer simulation programs (kids will call them games), that it's impossible to list them all. "Games" like Flight Simulator (pictured to the right) are just one example of a simulation. Flight simulation on the computer is so good that you could actually learn the ground school portion of what is required for a beginner's pilot's license on the computer. And you'd probably be quite comfortable on your first flight as a student pilot. There is quite a bit of educational shareware available as well.GPS LessonsStudents in Chelsea, Massachusetts, High School worked with the local fire department and the Envirorunental Protection Agency to design and react to a simulated. toxic chemical spill by tracking the spill, rerouting traffic, and warning the public.• Students in Perham, Minnesota, used GIS and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to help track newly reintroduced wolves into the Minnesota wilderness.• Students in Raleigh, North Carolina, created a cultural anthropological view of the history of Raleigh by tracing annexations. They also created individual "life maps" showing the geographical progressions of individuals as they moved around the city. These students developed a new understanding of history.
BENEFITS:Challenging activities to motivate students to spend more time on the topicFrom literature to environmental science, Google Earth can help you bring a world of information alive for your students. You can use Google Earth demos to get your students excited about geography, and use different Google Earth layers to study economics, demographics, and transportation in specific contexts. For instance: you can use real-time coordinates to demonstrate distance calculations and verify the results using our measurement tools; view tectonic plate-shift evidence by examining whole continents, mountain ranges and areas of volcanic activity; study impact craters, dry lake beds and other major land forms. Students can also use Google Earth to explore topics like the progress of human civilization, the growth of cities, the impact of civilization on the natural environment, and the impact of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Using Google SketchUp and historic overlays, students can recreate entire ancient cities. The only limit to Google Earth's classroom uses is your imagination. Don't limit your imagination to our lonely planet, though, launch your student's imagination with Sky in Google Earth. And if you prefer to explore the night sky from your browser, you can now try Google Sky on the web. Whether you stargaze, explore Hubble telescope images, or check out current astronomical events, you'll capture the wonder of the universe without leaving your classroom. Here are some other ideas for using Google Earth in your classroom: Biology: Track routes of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Forest. See the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee blog here. Ecology: Create a short quiz like this one. Environmental Science: Have students check Alaska's global warming problems. See how the Sierra Club used Google Earth to depict this problem here. Geology: Find images, links, and descriptions, with information about thousands of volcanoes around the globe, thanks to organizations like the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.Global Awareness: Study the Crisis in Darfur with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's unprecedented project. History: Explore Tutankhamun's Tomb.Humanities: Have your students scout film shoot locations like this teacher did with The Golden Compass. Literature: Bring class or contemporary tales to life with Google LitTrips. Math: Explore distance, velocity, and wave properties of tsunamis.
Geometer's Sketchpad is a software that uses the principle of dynamic geometry. It allows the users to maintain the mathematical relationships between all the objects created. For example, the picture on the right shows the point P on the perpendicular bisector of AB, the line AP which links the points A and P and the line BP which links the points B and P. The users can then move the point P along the perpendicular bisector of AB and the lines AP and BP will also move accordingly. This principle of dynamic geometry is the basis of the power and the usefulness of the Geometer's Sketchpad. Geometer's Sketchpad can also be used to plot graphs. This is more interactive than Graphmatica. The users can move the graphs and change them in a more dynamic way.
PassKey is an easy-to-use, self-paced learning system designed to help a wide range of students gain proficiency in Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Hundreds of Web-based lessons—spanning six skill levels and ranging from grades 1.6 to college entry—challenge beginning to advanced learners.
